Seven days without laughter makes one weak
by pinkscribbler
Summary: Connie is in an abusive relationship. He makes her feel so low, can anyone save her from him? Rated T for references to domestic violence and sex.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N - For the purpose of this fiction - Connie doesn't have any Grace and her Dad is still alive. I wanted to do something a little different with this one. Enjoy_

* * *

"You're so useless, can you actually do anything right? You can save lives but you can't even make my dinner correctly, god help those patients" Richard yelled at Connie, she'd had to take a call from work and accidentally overcooked his fillet steak. 'Great' she thought, just another excuse for him to smack her about.

Connie Beauchamp had been with her partner, Richard, for 18 months. They lived together in his flat near Holby, but she still hadn't sold her house, she wanted to keep it, just in case. Richard was just your average guy, he was a businessman, he travelled all around the world for various conferences, meetings and other ad-hoc business duties, as he was a top accountant in an international firm. That was the only thing that kept Connie sane, knowing that he was away more than he was home with her.

Richard was about a foot taller than Connie, he was of slim build, with messy brown hair. When Connie first met him, he was just your typical business man who wanted a surgeon turn emergency department consultant. She used to love him, but she had stopped loving him a long, long time ago, but she was too scared to leave him.

* * *

"Morning Zoe" Connie greeted Zoe as she walked into the department. Connie and Zoe hadn't always seen eye-to-eye, but recently, Zoe had become almost a friend to Connie, a concept which was almost alien to her. 'Why would anyone want to like me?' That's what Richard always told her, she was worthless, and no one would ever, ever _really_ like her.

"Morning Connie, ooh, Starbucks for coffee this morning? Coffee shop not good enough for you?" Zoe teased Connie.

"Ah this? No, I had to drop Richard off at the airport this morning, he's off to Los Angeles until Friday night for a work conference, I know he's my partner, but I'm really looking forward to spending a week in my _own_ house" No one knew the truth about how unhappy she was. No one knew what he did to her, he always hit her in places it would never show, places no one would ever, ever see.

"I know what you mean, nice to have a bit of me time now and again, anyway, have a good day today, that must be our new senior staff nurse, Jacob someone?"

"Masters, yes. He's exactly what this department needs"

Connie made her way to her office, where she was quickly followed by her newly acquired puppy-dog, Jacob Masters.

"Good morning boss"

"Is it though?" She snapped back to him.

"Oh, OK then, I know to leave you until the afternoon"

"Sorry, I had a bit of a bad night last night, my boyfriends an idiot" She couldn't quite believe she had said that. She'd never, ever mentioned to anyone that there were issues there, she'd always led everyone to believe that she had a perfect relationship, to go along with her perfect life

"I'm sorry, man obviously doesn't know he's onto a good thing when it hits him in the face"

"He's in LA for a week so at least I have peace and quiet, I'm heading back to mine for a couple of nights, I hate being at 'ours' it just reminds me of how much I hate hime"

"Well if you're feeling up to it, come round to mind for a few drinks when the shift is done, let it all out, I'm a good listener"

"I don't think that's a good idea Jacob, but there's a bottle of white in my fridge if you want to come back to mine?"

"You got yourself a deal, see you later, boss"

* * *

She had arrived home at her house, just outside of Holby. She was awaiting the arrival of Jacob Masters, a new member of staff who'd made quite the impression on her. From the moment she set eyes on him she fancied him. He gave her a fresh lease of life, something she thought she'd never have after Richard, she wanted him more than anything, and if things went to plan, she'd get him, tonight.

Shortly after, Jacob arrived, he was dressed down, in jeans and a tight t-shirt.

"Come in" she said shyly as she opened the door "My directions weren't too bad then were they" she teased.

"Not at all, I brought a second bottle, you know, just in case"

They chatted away on her couch, she told him how unhappy she was, but she never mentioned that he hit her, that would make her weak, and Connie Beauchamp was not weak. The sexual tension was intense, they could both feel it, it wasn't long before they locked lips, she pushed him down on her couch and explored his mouth with her tongue

"Shall we take this upstairs" she whispered in his ear. The pair quickly relocated to her bedroom, neither of them felt guilty about doing this to Richard, not after what he'd done to her.

* * *

The pair lay, exhausted in her bed, she rested her head on Jacobs' chest.

"You're the one" she said "You're the one I want to be with Jacob Masters"

"Leave him then"

"It's not that simple, I can't" tears started welling up in her eyes.

"Tell him you don't love him anymore and you don't want to be with him any longer"

"I tried that, and this happened" She sat up in her bed and pulled her top down slightly, revealing a large bruise on her shoulder and back. Jacob was stunned.

"What?"

"If you think this looks bad you should have seen it when he first did it, it was black, I had to wear polo necks to work to hide it. I told him I didn't want to be with him anymore, and he grabbed me by the neck and threw me against a wall and told me I'd never leave him, that I was his and he wouldn't let me leave him"

"Shit Connie, surely that's enough evidence against him that you could go to the Police?"

"You haven't met him, I can't, I can't face it, I've documented it all though, I have pictures of what he has done to me, in the hope that one day i'll be strong enough to stand up to him"

"Awh Con" Jacob stroked her hair as she buried her head in his chest.

"We can still, you know, be" she said, Jacob didn't understand. "He's away all the time for work, I want to see you again, I'd sleep with you every night if I could, Jacob Masters be mine, maybe one day, in the future, when you've made me strong again, I can stand up to him"


	2. Chapter 2

Connie and Jacob continued their affair. She would never refer to it as that, as she didn't see it that way. She saw it as a lease of life, as fighting back against the man who'd throw her against a wall for breathing out of turn. Connie and Jacob lay in her bed, their last night together before she'd have to return to Richard's flat, as he would be coming home the next day. At least the house was spotless, one less thing for her to worry about.

"So what are you gonna do about the Richard situation"

"I don't know Jacob, I really don't know, I guess i'll just have to play it by ear, see how it goes, and hope he doesn't find out I'm still on the pill. He thinks we've been trying for a baby for 6 months and just been unlucky, we haven't"

"You don't want kids then?"

"Oh I want a baby more than anything in the world, just not with him"

"Awh Connie" he hugged her into his chest. "I'm so sorry, but I'm going to help you, I'm going to help you leave him, and then we, we can be together, officially"

"Aww Jacob you're everything I have ever dreamed of"

* * *

The following morning, Connie arrived to work, closely followed by Jacob, she waited on him getting out of his car and walked into work with him, no one would get suspicious of them, as they all thought Connie was in a happy relationship with Richard.

Connie and Richard arrived home from the airport, he was in a foul mood and an argument was brewing between the pair.

"Have you actually fucking done anything in this place all week?"

"Richard, honey it's spotless" She hated calling him honey but it appeased him, so she kept up the farce that was her relationship. Without warning, Richard grabbed her wrists and violently slammed her against the stair railing. She groaned in pain, and he continued to abuse her, he pushed her up against the wall and held her there by the throat.

"So, are you gonna be a good girlfriend and do as I tell you tonight, or am I gonna have to punish you again?" he spat in her face. Connie wanted nothing more than Jacob to burst through the door and save her from him. She knew what he wanted, but she didn't want to sleep with him, she felt as though she were cheating on Jacob by doing it with him, his existence in itself disgusted her, but she did it, because she knew what she would get if she didn't.

Connie awoke the next morning, Richard was going to work at 9am and she was doing a night shift tonight. That was the way she liked it, she didn't have to see him and she got to see Jacob. She got up and looked in her bedroom mirror, she had a small scratch and bruise on the left side of her face, where he slammed her face against a wall. 'Great' last time he left a bruise on her face she had to call in sick for a week because it was so bad. She'd think of an excuse this time, because she so badly wanted to see Jacob.

* * *

When she got to work, it was a fairly quiet shift, she had managed to cover the bruise on her face with make up, although if you were up close to her, you'd see it. She informed Charlie that she'd had a pretty rough day, and not much sleep, so she was taking a pager and she was going to try and get some rest in the on call room. She also told Charlie she'd asked Jacob to work on some figures for her, and he would be upstairs in one of the conference rooms, she even spread some papers around the table so if anyone went in looking for him, they'd think he had been called away, but he wasn't, he was in the on call room with her.

She lay on his chest in the bed, he gently stroked her face, she told him what had happened last night and showed him the bruising on her back, it was ultimately horrific and he wanted to find him and beat him to a pulp, but he knew that would do Connie no good at all. Jacob reassured her that everything would be OK, and that he would always be there for her, regardless.

"Thank you Jacob, I don't know where I would be without you, you're amazing"

"I'm going to help you leave him, I promise"

"How?"

"You'll have to stay with him, until we come up with a plan, I'm sorry"

The pair lay together coming up with ways she could escape unharmed, but Jacob realized he had severely underestimated what he was capable of. Jacob was afraid, for Connie's safety, he wondered what it was going to take, he was afraid he was going to end up killing her.


	3. Chapter 3

Connie arrived home from work and saw Richard car still parked outside the house. That's strange, she thought, he should be at work. She wondered what was wrong. She opened the door and he was upstairs, she started going upstairs and met him on the landing.

"What's wrong, why aren't you at work?"

"What the fuck is this?" he held up a packet of contraceptive pills, questioning her as to what she was doing with them.

"Richard, I….I….I can explain"

"Well you better start fucking talking, NOW" he grabbed her by the wrists, violently shaking her and screaming at her, but he lost his grip, and she fell backwards, down the stairs, knocking her unconscious. He just left her there, he walked out the door and went to work. Connie regained consciousness and tried to get up, she couldn't she was in too much pain, she looked up and saw his car keys were gone. She knew he had gone to work, so she was safe to call Jacob.

"Jacob… It's me… I need you.. around at mine.. he found my contraceptive pills and we got in a fight and to cut a long story short I'm lying at the bottom of the stairs and I can't move, can you come and help me please?"

"I'll be there as soon as I can…stay strong baby"

By the time Jacob arrived, she'd managed to get herself up, she was sore but she didn't have any lasting damage, apart from obvious bruising.

"Jacob, thank you so much for coming - I need your help - I'm going to leave him, tonight, before he ends up killing me. I need you to be close to here, around five thirty, i'll tell him I'm leaving, and if he takes it badly and I need you, I'll call you or text you from my pocket."

Jacob hugged her into his chest, he was so proud that she'd finally taken the plunge and was going to leave him.

* * *

"Why haven't you made any dinner?"

"Richard, we need to talk, now"

"What could we possibly need to talk about" They were in the kitchen, he had cornered her against one of the kitchen units and was being threatening towards her.

"I'm leaving you, I can't do this anymore, I will not be your punchbag any more, look at me, my wrists are bruised from you grabbing me, you almost broke my shoulder slamming me against walls, I have a cut on my face from you pushing me into a door and you almost paralyzed me pushing me down the stairs, are those enough valid reasons for you?"

"You're not going anywhere, you're staying here with me" he pushed her further and further into a corner, he placed his hands around her throat and started to choke her, he had here there for at least a minute and she started to panic, he was going to kill her! Without thinking, she grabbed a kitchen knife from the unit and plunged it into his abdomen, his face went pale and he passed out onto the floor. She couldn't believe what she had done, but the biggest feeling that came across her was relief, because no matter what, she was going to be free. She grabbed dish towels and started to apply pressure to his wound. She took her phone out of her pocket and called Jacob while she tried to save him. She didn't want to kill him, she just wanted to get him away from her.

"Con, what's happened"

"Jacob, I've fucking stabbed him, he had me cornered and was going to strangle me, I panicked and I grabbed a knife and stabbed him, call an ambulance and come in. Connie had broken down in tears. She would go to jail for this, but it still would be nothing compared to the sentence she was already living.


	4. Chapter 4

Jacob and Connie followed the ambulance to the ED. They followed the paramedics in, Dylan and Robyn took control of the situation and Connie followed in slowly. she was covered in blood and bruises and she looked as if she was about to burst into tears. Zoe immediately spotted them and ran over to make sure she was OK.

"Connie, what happened?"

"I did it. I did this. I stabbed him and I'm not sorry. I'll be in my office, if the police are looking for me, then send them there, I'll tell them everything. Everything he did to drive me to this"

Connie and Jacob went into her office and closed the door, she curled up in a ball on the sofa and he sat beside her, promising her that everything would be OK.

"I don't know what came over me, I dunno why I did it" she cried.

"You were scared babe, a year of his crap and you finally snapped, I couldn't have put up with what you did for so long"

Zoe came to Connie's office

"How's she holding up? Their taking him up to theatre now, it looks like he's going to pull through"

"She isn't.. she's completely broken, look Zo, can you have a look at her injuries, I need you to record them, to prove she was acting in self-defense"

"Come on, I'll take you up to the on-call room, Jacob are you OK to wait here?"

* * *

Zoe took Connie away, and they returned about half an hour later.

"Jacob, why didn't you report this? She's a complete state"

"Because she trusted me. Trusted me not to tell anyone, I looked out for her"

"Well obviously you didn't look out for her well enough or she wouldn't be in this state facing possible charges being brought against her"

"That's enough you two - Jacob couldn't say anything - I had to wait for the right time to leave him or he'd have killed me, just like he almost did tonight, I know I'm facing prison for this, but you know what it'll be a damn easier life than living with him! Jacob has been my rock for the last 6 months. He gave me everything Richard couldn't give, he made me feel safe, secure and most of all he made me feel loved, something I hadn't felt for a long time, and finally, he made me realize that I can love someone again, because I love him, and it's the real deal" Jacob pulled her into a tighter embrace.

Just then, two police officers entered Connie's office.

"Constance Beauchamp? We need you to come down to the station for questioning."

Without struggle, she went with them, they took her down to the local police station for questioning, Jacob followed and waited for her in the waiting area, in the interview room, the two officers questioned Connie, accompanied by her lawyer.

* * *

"So Mrs. Beauchamp, we'd like your version of what happened tonight"

"I got home from work this morning, and we had an argument, something I did didn't please him, to which he ended up pushing me down the stairs. When he got home from work, I decided to leave him, but he didn't take it well.. he told me I'd never leave him and he'd make me stay with him for the rest of my life.. he cornered me against the kitchen unit and started choking me, after he'd held me there for a minute I panicked, I couldn't breathe and I panicked, I grabbed a knife from the unit and I stabbed him"

"And this strangulation, do you have any evidence he did this to you"

"Call the hospital, they'll fax you over the medical report, or get one of your own doctors to do it, or, I can show you pictures I took on my phone, for the last year, of all the injuries he has caused me"

"I'd like to take a break" the senior officer said "Can you stay in here, I need to call the hospital"

The two officers stepped outside.

"She's lying" one snapped to the other.

"No she isn't, I can see the bruise on her neck, she's got a cut on the side of her face, and she has marks on her wrist where she's been grabbed with some force, he's been abusing her for some time, and she finally snapped" the senior officer put the other one in his place. They returned to the interview room, with the medical report Zoe completed earlier.

"Mrs. Beauchamp, based on the evidence we have here, you are being released on bail, however when the court date is set you will be required to give evidence and prove your case to a judge and jury. You will be permitted to return to work until after the trial.

Connie left the police station to where Jacob was waiting on her she ran into his arms and burst into tears. Tears of happiness that she was finally free. She only had the trial to face and then she would be free, to start her life with Jacob. He took her home to hers, cooked her dinner and stayed with her all night. He loved her, and he was going to protect her, make sure she never had to experience anything like she just had been through.


	5. Chapter 5

It was Connie's first day back at work since the incident between her and Richard. She had a meeting with Henrik first thing when she went in, she was unsure what he wanted exactly, but she knew it'd be about the fact she was going to court for attempted murder and it wasn't going to be pretty. The only staff members who knew about her and Jacob's relationship was Zoe & Charlie. They weren't going to make it public knowledge, but if anyone else found out about it, they weren't really for caring. They walked in together and all eyes were on Connie, she felt like a rabbit caught in headlights, she didn't know which way to look, or go, so she ran to her office and sat down on her couch, closely followed by Jacob. "Just ignore them baby!" he said, putting his arms around her. "They all think I did it!" she cried. "No they don't - and even if they do, stuff them - I know you didn't and that's all that matters" "Well actually I've got to convince a judge and jury first but whatever!" she glanced at her watch, "I suppose I had better head upstairs for an ambushing, i'll let you know how it goes" x She knocked on Guys' office door and entered, she immediately saw Guy seated, along with Ben Harding and some other gentleman she didn't recognize. "Ahhh Mrs. Beauchamp. please, have a seat" Guy signaled to the chair in front of his desk, she took a seat and awaited the rollocking she was sure to get. "Now, the reason I've called you in here this morning is not why you think. I'm on your side, we want to help you, the Police have told us some details and that you're going to have to go to court and are almost certain to be found not guilty. Obviously you know Ben, and this is Andrew, Andrew is a psychologist" "You think I need to see a psychologist?" she was absolutely amazed that Henrik thought she needed a psychologist" "Connie, you almost killed a man, we need to know what drove you to that?" "What drove me to that? Try months and months of being used as a punchbag, psychologically bullied, made feel as if you were worthless and almost paralyzed by being thrown down a set of stairs, I don't need anyone to talk to.. I have someone who's helped me for the last six months, so thanks for your very kind offer but I think I'll decline" "I highly doubt you have anyone that can help you in the same way Ben and Andrew can Mrs. Beauchamp" "Oh really, well thats where you're wrong, if it wasn't for him I'd have never spoken up to anyone about what happened between Richard and I and he gave me the strength to stand up and leave him, I just didn't expect Richard to react as badly as he did, now are we done here? I have a job to do!' She barked, she was furious with Hannsen, he nodded and she got up and stropped out of his office, slamming the door behind them, leaving the three gentleman lost for words. x She returned to her office, to find Jacob there, waiting for her. "What did they want?" "They wanted me to have some sessions with a psychologist, which I obviously told them to stuff!" "That's my baby girl!" "I don't bloody need them! I have you" she pulled his hips towards him and her lips met hers, there was a knock at the door, the pair quickly pulled apart, but it was too late, Robyn had seen it all. "Ohhh..em Mrs B… you're em needed in HDC.. sorry.." and scuttled away as quickly as she could. "I better go, we'll continue this at mine, meet me in here at the end of the shift" x It was the end of the shift, Connie was waiting in her office and was soon joined by Jacob. "Hey gorgeous" he greeted her 'So yeah, Robyn told EVERYONE. Even that agency cleaner that I've never spoken to in my life before, trust her to keep a secret" "Are you bothered? They just think it's a rumor anyway" she put her coat on and got her back and keys ready, she gestured for Jacob to take her hand "You sure" he checked "Yip, let's dismiss the rumor and go official, it's been six months anyway" he took her hand and they walked straight through the ED, causing heads to turn, and mouths to move, they stopped at the nurses station and turned to face him and planted a kiss on his lips in front of the bunch of female nurses, including Robyn, whom she'd seen eyeing Jacob up at some time or other, and turned to them and said "Hands and eyes off girls, he's all mine" and without another glance, word, or even giving the girls time to respond, the pair walked off, got into her car and sped away. 


	6. Question

Hi everyone,

Ive continued these stories on, but over on wattpad. I didnt think this site was being used.

Would anyone like me to continue uploading here too?

Please let me know in the reviews and if people want them I'll get them on here!

Pinkscribbler x


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